About WSG

December, 2016

Shoreline armoring removal: synthesis and assessment of restoration effectiveness in Puget Sound

Jeffrey Cordell, Jason Toft and Emily Howe, UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences; Megan Dethier, UW Friday Harbor Laboratories

Local officials, state resource managers and conscientious property owners have shown growing enthusiasm for removing bulkheads to restore natural shorelines and shore habitats. The Puget Sound Partnership’s 2014/15 Action Agenda identifies shoreline armoring as a significant threat and restoration as a main strategic goal. But monitoring of restoration sites ...

June 30, 2016

Senator Cantwell’s office recently hosted a Capital Hill briefing called Tides of Change on economic and social changes resulting from our changing oceans. The briefing featured a panel of experts, including WSG’s Social Scientist Melissa Poe, who spoke to a room filled with 60 legislative staff, federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations and several Sea Grant fellows.

April 12, 2016

International researchers urge including the social sciences in ecosystem management, highlighting indicators of human well-being developed by Washington Sea Grant and the Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

For too long, sustainability goals and environmental management have failed to consider the human side of conservation—how decisions affect people’s lives, and how human culture, values, and equity affect conservation outcomes. Social science can contribute significantly to advancing and assessing conservation efforts. These are the conclusions of a paper published April 1 in ...

March 1, 2016

When Paul Dye focuses on marine conservation, change happens. Dye now brings that focus to Washington Sea Grant, where he recently began serving as the new assistant director for outreach for the marine research, education and outreach organization.

Dye’s previous work in Washington has conserved fish and shellfish habitat, supported fisheries innovations to create sustainability, helped coastal communities adapt to climate change, and reduced the risk of oil spills.

Dye has 30 years experience in the conservation field, spanning protection ...

January 22, 2016

The Seattle Aquarium recently recognized UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences research scientist Jeffrey Cordell for his innovative work on restoring marine habitat along Seattle’s Elliott Bay seawall at their annual Chairman’s Award dinner.

Jeff led the long-term research, funded by Washington Sea Grant and the City of Seattle to design, install, and monitor large-scale test panels at three locations along the Seattle waterfront as part of the Elliott Bay Seawall Project. Jeff and his team tested the ...

November 30, 2015

Dr. John A. Knauss, administrator of NOAA from 1989 to 1993 and an instrumental founder of NOAA’s Sea Grant program, died peacefully at the age of 90 on November 19 in Saunderstown, Rhode Island.

Knauss was widely known as an international leader in oceanography and marine policy for more than three decades. As such, the respected and highly successful John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship was created in his name. In 1966, Knauss was instrumental in the formulation of the ...

September 20, 2015

The Puget Sound Marine Waters workgroup of the Puget Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program released the 4^th annual report on marine water conditions in Puget Sound.

The report combines a wealth of data from comprehensive monitoring programs and provides a concise summary of what was happening in Puget Sound’s marine waters during 2014. It covers areas such as climate and weather, river inputs, seawater temperature, salinity, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, ocean acidification, phytoplankton, biotoxins, bacteria and pathogens, shellfish resources, and more.

The report ...